Story of a Kiss
by theonceandfuturekiki
Summary: She kisses him, and the credits roll, but that doesn't mean it's suddenly happily-ever-after. Because he's still Don Keefer, who thinks he ruins every woman he touches, and she's still Sloan Sabbith, who doesn't believe any guy could really find her interesting.


She kisses him, and the credits roll (literally. They do work in television), but that doesn't mean it's suddenly happily-ever-after. Because he's still Don Keefer, who thinks he ruins every woman he touches, and she's still Sloan Sabbith, who doesn't believe any guy could really find her interesting (Don reasons that that's probably because she keeps going out with guys who aren't even good enough to lick her shoes).

But it does keep happening.

Don's not _exactly_ complaining. Being allowed to kiss Sloan basically whenever he wants is more than he thought he'd ever get. But for the first time ever, he actually, _genuinely_ wants more.

He takes a moment to make sure that he doesn't just want to want more and realizes, without any doubt in his mind, that he definitely wants more. He doesn't think he's ever wanted anything so much.

That's what makes it so scary.

* * *

He has this grand romantic plan of being a gentleman and walking her home after the election coverage is over and they've all finished celebrating. It's really a sort of half-formed plan, and he's not sure where he actually wants it to go, but it's more effort than he's put into most of his romantic relationships, and he knows that Sloan knows that.

Don has never been more comfortable and more petrified with a woman all at the same time. It's equal parts infuriating and exhilarating.

But in the end, she falls asleep on the couch in Charlie's office and he falls asleep at his desk, and when they wake up in the morning it's straight into work (with hangovers) and the romance of the idea falls apart.

He has no idea what to do now.

At 3:35 they're in her office, talking about segment for 10:00, but she's supposed to be on television in 25 minutes and he can tell he doesn't have 100% of her attention. Normally he wouldn't mind, but since last night he's felt like a five year old in desperate need of his mother's attention as far as Sloan is concerned. It makes him feel vulnerable in a way he's not comfortable with.

So he pulls her to the other side of the bookshelf (the only place that's even remotely hidden from the rest of the newsroom. Who thought glass walls was a good idea?) and before she can even get a protest past the confused expression on her face, his lips are on hers and he's pushing her gently but insistently into the wall.

Sloan's arms close around his neck and they exchange lazy kisses for a few glorious minutes before she pulls back. "Thanks, Keefer. Now I have to go have my makeup redone." But she's smiling, goofy and beautiful.

Don pats her hip and reluctantly let's go, stepping back so she can move around him

She smiles throughout the entire hour of her show. No matter how inappropriate grinning like an idiot while talking about a plummeting stock market might be.

* * *

Jerry Dantana is suing him.

Jerry Dantana is suing him and it could very well ruin his life.

It doesn't really sink in until several days later when Rebecca comes in to see him and they discuss strategy and testimony and witnesses and Don suddenly realizes that _this could ruin his life_.

How can he possibly force that on Sloan?

The avoidance hurts her. He knows it. And it hurts him to hurt her. But a part of him has to believe that she gets it.

It becomes clear that she does when their eyes meet through the window of his office as Rebecca is leaving after one of their many, many meetings. He's sitting at his desk, head in his hands, and when he looks up, he sees Sloan standing on the other side of the newsroom. Their eyes lock, and hers are so sad. But they're not sad because of him. They're sad _for_ him.

She follows him to the elevator later in the afternoon. As soon as the doors close her arms are around him and she's pressing soft, brief kisses to his lips. After a moment of passive resistance, Don's hands go to her waist and he responds to her kisses with desperate ones of his own.

Before he's ready for it to stop, Sloan pulls her lips from his and hugs him, tightly. His face finds its way into her neck and he just breathes in her scent for a moment, letting it calm him.

Even without words, he knows what she's saying.

_No matter what happens, you've got me._

* * *

"Why do you like me?"

They're going over a segment she's doing at 10:00 on the effect of the elections on the economy when the question bursts out of Sloan, like she's been wanting to ask it for weeks.

Don looks up at her, confused? "What?"

"Why do you like me?"

It's baffling that she even has to ask. "What do you mean?"

"Well, it's been my experience that guys don't really like me."

"You go out with football players and stock brokers and actors."

"Yeah, but they don't like me. Once they get to know me, they don't like me."

His heart breaks for her and he wants to leap across the desk and just pull her into his arms and hold onto her and never let her go. How can he possibly articulate how amazing she is?

So he smiles at her. "Explain the Decoy Effect to me again."

"When presented with two options a consumer might be torn between the two based on price and quality, but when presented with a third option that is asymmetrically dominant, meaning that it's superior to the first option and equal parts superior and inferior to the second option. The presence of the third option will drive a higher percentage of people to buy the already dominant option than they would if there was no third option at all."

Don is still smiling. "I don't really understand what you just said."

An adorable look of confusion crosses her face. "Most people don't like feeling stupid."

Laughing a bit, he responds. "I'm not stupid. I don't feel stupid."

"Well, you don't understand the simple concept of the Decoy Effect, so…"

"You're brilliant. And while I'm not _stupid_, you're still way smarter than I am."

"The guys I've dated haven't liked that."

"Well, I'm not them."

A small but beautiful smile blooms on her face. "No, you're not."

They get back to work, but when she gets up to leave she leans over the desk and kisses him softly. "Thanks for not being intimidated by my intelligence."

* * *

He's standing with Jim when Maggie walks by, and he makes a comment about her hair that he probably wouldn't if he wasn't so damn tired.

Jim must be tired to, because he responds with, "You know, she cut it herself."

Don's head whips up from the paper he's reading and he sees Jim freeze. Clearly, he knows that he's just given more information than he should have.

"What?" Don asks, not entirely sure he wants to know.

"Forget it. It's nothing."

"Jim…"

"It's not my place."

And even though he doesn't have all the information, Don's smart enough to put the pieces together and figure it out.

A good guy would go talk to Maggie. A good guy would try to help her.

He so badly wants to be a good guy.

Instead, he drinks way too much at Hang Chew's and ends up ignoring Sloan. Sometime after midnight she looks at him (he can tell she's pissed) and practically storms out of the building. Mac shoots him a withering glare and follows.

God, he doesn't want to ruin this. He doesn't want to ruin _her_.

He just doesn't know how to do this. Even when he thought he was doing it right with Maggie, it still turned out all wrong.

Maggie slides onto the stool next to him and just stares at him for a minute. He thinks she might be expecting him to start the conversation, but then she says softly, "None of this is your fault, you know."

Don almost doesn't hear her, because it's so loud and she's so quiet, and there's probably enough alcohol to kill a lesser man flowing through his system right now. Turning to her, he catches his reflection in one of the mirrors behind the bar, and he _really_ doesn't like how vulnerable he looks.

"This. Me. It's not your fault. Not even the littlest bit."

It's a little shocking to him that she's even talking about this right now, and he must say as much out loud, because she replies. "I'm starting to… deal with things. Patching things up with Jim and Lisa really helped and… I think I'm dealing with things in a much better way."

"You mean in a way that doesn't have you chopping off all your hair?" God, he's such an asshole when he's drinking.

But Maggie just smiles. "Yeah." They're quiet for a moment, and Don thinks that maybe, in another universe or timeline, where there was no Jim and there was no Sloan, he and Maggie might have actually made it. They might have actually been really happy together. He maybe could have loved her, really loved her, in the way she deserved.

"It's nobody's fault," she continues, oblivious to Don's thoughts. "I know that you're thinking that if we hadn't broken up I wouldn't have wanted to go to Africa so badly, but that's not true. I was planning on going even when we were still together."

Surprisingly, that does make him feel a little better. "You never said anything."

She smiles, a little bashfully, and she's almost like the Maggie he used to know, before everything went wrong. "I didn't tell you because I wasn't sure if Mac would let me go, and I was worried you'd think it was silly-"

"I never thought you were silly."

"Don." Her voice holds more than a note of skepticism, she tilts her head and looks at him from under her lashes in that way she does when she's calling him on his bullshit.

"I didn't," he defends adamantly. And then, after a moment of thought, "Did I make you feel that way? Did I make you feel silly? Because I swear to god Maggie, I never-"

"Don, it's okay."

"It's really not."

"Don, just-" she cuts herself off, like she's not sure what to say. "I know you think you were a terrible boyfriend, but you weren't. You were great."

"Not great enough," he mumbles into his glass as he takes another drink.

"Wha-?" Comprehension dawns on her face and she leans in closer to him. "What happened with Jim, it wasn't because of _you_."

Snorting in disbelief, it's his turn to give Maggie a look of skepticism.

"It wasn't!" Maggie says vehemently. "I mean it, you were wonderful. You really were. It wasn't because of you. It was… because of Jim."

"That makes me feel so much better, thanks."

"I'm not trying to make you feel better. I'm just… I want to make sure you know that what happened with us wasn't your fault."

"And why is that so important to you?"

"Because Sloan is really great and she deserves the best. She deserves _you_."

* * *

While the talk with Maggie and the walk from Hang Chew's sobered him up quite a bit, Don is still a little drunk and he realizes that now might not be the best time to do this. But he knows that he messed up tonight, and he's going to fix it.

It's 1:45am when he knocks on Sloan's door, and it's only then that it occurs to him that she might be sleeping. But when the opens, the chains still fastened on the other side, all the lights are on and she looks wide awake. She doesn't looks particularly happy to see him.

"How did you get in here?"

"I didn't think you'd buzz me in, so I waited until someone who lives in the building came home."

"That's kind of creepy."

"Saying it out loud I realize that yes, it is a bit."

They stare at each other for a moment. "Are you going to let me in?"

"Can you give me a good reason why I should? You treated me like shit tonight, Don."

"I know, I know. And I'm so sorry. God, I'm sorry. I'm an asshole, I know it. And you deserve so much better then me. No matter what Maggie says, you deserve more than me."

"Maggie?" she asks, growing more confused. But Don just keeps going.

"But I can try. And I'm going to. I'm never going to stop trying to be the best I can for you because I don't want to screw this up. I don't want to be like all the other guys you've dated, I want to be better than that because you're the most amazing woman I have ever known. I want to be the good guy you think I am. I want to make this work. I have to make this work because I'm in love with you and nothing has ever been more important to me than this."

Finally, he stops, taking in a deep breath. He didn't mean to say that last part, but he's all in on this.

Sloan's eyes are wide and stunned. She stares at him for several long moments before finally closing the door. Don is confused and then he starts to panic. He thinks he's said too much too fast and scared her away. He's about to start pounding on the door and _pleading_ with her when the door swings open and he realizes she was just releasing the chains.

There are tears in her eyes and he worries that he's done something wrong, but when she rushes into his arms, kissing him with everything she had, he realizes he's done something very, very right. Wrapping his arms tightly around her, he kisses her back, trying to express all the love he feels for her in one kiss. When they finally pull back to breathe she's smiling, radiant, and he's sure he doesn't look much different.

"I love you, too," she whispers as a tear escapes her eye and runs down her cheek. He kisses it away before moving back to her lips.

"Do you want to come inside?"

He does, he wants to very badly. But he hesitates. "This isn't too fast, right? Tell me we're not moving too fast."

"Mac and Will got engaged and they weren't even _dating_."

Old Don would panic at the word "engaged". He'd worry that Sloan was trying to drop some kind of hint about expectations or something. But New Don just smiles happily. "Good point." He kisses her again, backing her into the apartment, kicking the door closed behind him.

THE END


End file.
